Various tumor related diseases inflict man. Considerable research has been devoted to oncology and antitumor measures. Tumors are common in a variety of mammals and the prevention, control of the growth and regression of tumors in mammals is important to man. The term tumor refers to abnormal masses of new tissue growth which is discordant with the economy of the tissue of origin or of the host's body as a whole.
Tumors inflict mammals and man with a variety of disorders and conditions including various forms of cancer and resultant cancerous cachexia. Cancerous cachexia refers to the symptomatic discomfort that accompanies the infliction of a mammal with a tumor. These symptoms include weakened condition of the inflicted mammal as evidenced by, for example, weight loss. The seriousness of cancer is well know, e.g., cancer is second only to heart and vascular diseases as a cause of death in man.
Considerable research and resources have been devoted to oncology and antitumor measures including chemotherapy. While certain methods and chemical compositions have been developed which aid in inhibiting, remitting or controlling the growth of tumors further antitumor methods and chemical compositions are needed.
Bacteria are of practical importance to man. While some bacteria are useful in industry and for soil fertilization, others are harmful. Bacteria are responsible for diseases in man, other animals and plants including, for example in man, botulism, diphtheria, tetanus and tuberculosis. Bacteria also cause large economic damage due to spoiling of various food, e.g., milk products.
Vast resources and energy have been devoted to bacteriology and immunology relating to bacteria caused diseases. While many methods and chemical compositions have been utilized in controlling bacteria caused disease and other maladies, new antibacterial methods and chemical compositions are needed.
Prevention of the growth of fungus and prevention of the infections and maladies caused to mammals and plants is also of importance to man. The presence of fungus may cause various diseases and infections in man including mycotic disease, e.g., pulmonary candidiasis and pulmonary blastomycosis. Certain yeastlike organisms, e.g., Cryptococcus neoformans, may cause serious infections of the central nervous system. More commonly known fungal infections in humans and mammals include ringworm, which are fungus infections of hair and nail areas, as well as resistant infections of the skin. Many other fungal infections inflict humans and mammals in the areas of skin, mucous membranes, intestinal tract, vaginal area and lungs.
Plants are also attacked by various fungi. Damage caused by fungus infection to agriculture amounts to billions of dollars annually. Various inorganic and organic fungistats and fungicides have been tried but with limited success. It is of course important for the fungistat or fungicide to kill the fungi but not the plant and to leave no toxic residue on the food of the plant. Various methods have been utilized to combat fungus infection in agriculture including foliage fungicide by which method plants are coated with a preventive weather-resistant fungicide. Seed treatment and soil treatment are methods which requires fungicides which are safe for seeds and resist degradation by soil and soil microorganisms. Chemotherapeutants are fungicides which permeate the plant to protect new growth or eliminate infections which have already occurred within the plant. Agricultural fungistats and fungicides and their application must also meet very stringent requirements and regulations, which have been promulgated, for example, in the United States.
Considerable research and resources have been devoted to combating fungal infections in both mammals and plants. While some antifungal agents and methods have been developed which aid in inhibiting the spread of fungus and fungus-caused diseases in both mammals and plants and in treating infected mammals and plants new methods and antifungal chemical compositions are needed.
It has now been found that certain organic compounds derived from extracts of sponges of the genus, Latrunculia, posses useful antitumor, antibacterial and antifungal activity. The genus Latrunculia is in the family Latrunculiidae Topsent, order Hadromerida. Twenty-nine species one with three subspecies) of Latrunculia have been described. The genus occurs in cold, temperate and warm seas (Arctic, Antarctic, Kerguelen, New Zealand, Rio de la Plata, Azores, Mediterranean and Red Sea) at depths from less than 20 meters to over 1200 meters.
Some compounds have been previously isolated from marine sponge Latrunculia magnifica. These compounds named Latrunculins A, B, C and D are 2--thiazolidinone macrolides and have been reported by Kashman et al, in "Latrunculin; A New 2--Thiazolidine Macrolide", Tetrahedron Letters, 21 page 3629 (1980) and "Latrunculins NMR Study, Two New Toxins and a Synthetic Approach," Tetrahedron 41, 1905-1914, (1985) and references cited therein. The entire disclosure of these references are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The latrunculins are reported to represent a new class of highly potent compounds that disrupt microfilament organization in cultured cells. Thus, marine sponges and other marine life can be a source of useful raw materials for man.